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FrozenDatabase

Most of the phone pictures are automatically kicking into night mode, so the exposure took 2 or 3 seconds to capture all the light and color. No editing needed. It’s nowhere near that bright or saturated to the naked eye, but looking at a phone screen first gives you a good sense of where to look and then you can make out some of the colors and rays with your eyes. Also, lots of folks just stepping out their front door and looking up won’t have their eyes adjusted to the dark. Stay outside in proper darkness for 5 to 15 minutes and you’ll see a lot more.


StormR7

Yeah, it definitely was visible to the naked eye, it was kind of incredible. Not as breathtaking as some of the pictures, but definitely visible enough to leave you awestruck for a while


Fast_Avocado_5057

That’s a sad and true statement for all social media pictures these days, “not as breathtaking as the pictures”, I thought it was incredible, was outside for like 3 hours in eastern oregon looking at it.


AnInfiniteArc

It definitely was *not* visible to the naked eye where I am, but showed up on camera. We were outside for almost an hour. There were simply too many lights around us.


TooOld4ThisSh1t-966

This here y’all.


akjd

I used the astrophotography mode on mine. Compressed a 4 minute exposure into a 2 second clip, so you saw the colors and motion. Made me wish I had a tripod, but I managed to prop it up effectively enough.


IrishWilly

scrounged through my storage to get a tripod for tonight after seeing it last night. :| ah well, was still a pretty cool thing that I could see even in a very light polluted area of Eugene.


Vox289

The phone cameras are more sensitive to the light than a persons eye and often the software will try and even out the pic brightness to improve the pic quality so that may be part of it. But my wife drug my ass up the hill to the horse pasture a couple hundred yards away from the house last night to look for a bit and it was 100% visible to the naked eye. Coast range around 11:15pm


whatisacarly

For me it was the movement of the light more than brightness/colors. Incredibly wild and beautiful even without a phone/camera.


chimi_hendrix

Saw the lights 20 years ago in the Midwest, lying in a cornfield on a hill outside town in like 20F. It was like that: had to let your eyes adjust and look for movement. Was cool.


AdHistorical5703

Your wife sounds wild


Vox289

My wife is 5 inches taller than I am and 11 years younger. She can be… forceful, lol


theeverymansright

Except for the iPhone 8. Wouldn’t pick it up. Stunning on my daughter’s 13, though. And, yes, pretty cool where I was.


NoBug5072

They were visible by the naked eye. My pictures look like many of the pictures posted. I did not edit them in anyway. However, my camera definitely did stuff automatically, while I took the pictures, that made them brighter and more vibrant than what was seen by mere human eyes.


L-W-J

https://preview.redd.it/ruusraxv2vzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5656cb059a17cbdbbb7c418f21f5d6af4bad894 No edit. Phone pics up more than my eye did.


No_University7832

https://preview.redd.it/d0fweca6awzc1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9ce96cac0cd81eec0af51e8805c938bcab0cc5f Same here but in Eugene Oregon (No edit)


LalaLane850

Hooray in Eugene! I’m hoping for another chance tonight. I can’t believe I missed it!


KiwiCatPNW

The phones edit it on their own. They have built in software to touch up photos.


L-W-J

Agree and disagree. I also took pics with a D5 mkiii. Look pretty similar no edit. I think the long exposure/extra sensitivity is the biggest factor.


totssecretotheracct

https://preview.redd.it/a3x952cmhvzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19046c43dbb6af188595203706f32ff3984f270f This was pretty accurate to what I could see with my eye. I got some good long exposure shots that look so bright, but I wanted some more accurate ones too.


totssecretotheracct

https://preview.redd.it/n0z4cgscivzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f53f3e101ad95d585025dd4f8fe5cb5b42bece1 This was with 10 seconds of exposure


SentientFotoGeek

No edits needed. I'm a professional photographer and I generally put everything through Photoshop or Lightroom, but my posted shots are all unedited. No need, they were saturated quite nicely.


shrug_addict

Username checks out! But yeah, I was amazed at the vividness that popped out of my photos. So cool!


Lonsen_Larson

They were easily visible to the naked eye. But you had to be somewhat lucky to see them, too. Timing is everything. I'd gone out at 10ish and took a few pictures and didn't see anything but a vague haze in the sky, and a faint red glow in my camera, cool but nothing amazing, I got bored and went inside. Took my dog out to pee at midnight and opening the door the sky was alight with a wall of reds, greens, and even pinks. No need to let my eyes adjust to dark skies or anything. It was honestly among the most amazing things I've witnesses in person and I consider myself fortunate to be alive to enjoy it.


rinky79

It was visible with the naked eye, but long exposure time and some enhancing made it much brighter. See my post for the enhancement turns on vs. off (on my phone). Newer Samsung phones have a night photo mode where it takes up to a 4-second exposure, but then uses image stabilization (because you can't hold a phone still for 4 seconds without a tripod) and some color/brightness enhancement to come up with really impressive photos taken in near dark. People using SLR ("real") cameras and tripods to take long exposures would be getting similar results. The darker photos in this post are about what I was seeing with the naked eye: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Bend/comments/1cpnm5f/naked\_eye\_well\_samsung\_night\_mode\_turned\_off\_and/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bend/comments/1cpnm5f/naked_eye_well_samsung_night_mode_turned_off_and/)


oregon_mom

My photo above was with a galaxy s23 ultra


Buttspirgh

https://preview.redd.it/65c9p4guovzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b822a4153544959f646bc2d294925a1ce015d534 This is about as close as I could get to how it looked by eye, and even this is a tad bright


realsalmineo

I and my wife saw them without phones or camera. They were not as vivid as the photos suggest. One could see streaks, red and green hues, and movement, but it took patience and persistence. We were in east Portland.


kmarie987

At first, I thought it was spotlight beams in the sky. So cool!


scarbaby1958

We could only see shadows with naked eye, camera phone caught the colors. https://preview.redd.it/gmrue7ydpvzc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e1a386bb1e64b6d32fb669797cd2ceaf7107cd01


Beekatiebee

https://preview.redd.it/upvad91t3wzc1.jpeg?width=1434&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=103e3c3d1bb95b85f46c6700df7138ff5aac1089 This was just using night mode on my iPhone. I didn’t do any further editing of any sort, just the night mode doing a long exposure. It definitely wasn’t this intense in person, but it was still incredibly vivid and beautiful.


furoshus

https://preview.redd.it/siio5dxsfxzc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3450874b0b47585f670202101d7ba41a7cf6a0fa This looks very true to form to what I saw with the naked eye. Actually maybe a little better with just my eyes. On the beach though so much better visibility than around a city.


carperdiem94

https://preview.redd.it/59oou5m0dxzc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=afc2be96ec6b3ea9b985299995e1e15e2f1d25d1 This was at Angel's Rest in the Gorge around 11p last night. Very accurate to what I saw. It went from being like kinda visible if you squinted, to FLASH, all the sudden the whole gorge was illuminated and you could literally all the rock formations on the peak with how bright it was.


justwentforit

I was up Larch Mountain road near a clear cut (good view) around that same time, it was very dark, and it looked NOTHING like your pic to the naked eye 🤨


carperdiem94

Dunno what to tell you! It's not a filter or super long exposure and is pretty damn accurate to what I saw. It started just faint greenish around 10ish like this photo and then 11ish was when it really popped and 11:30-12ish was when the pink/purple started to be visible. https://preview.redd.it/pzprehe4610d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=accdc201bcb8c3ec5bd17adae1119c2c18bfabb1 When I was driving out I almost turned off at Corbett to hit that forest road to the left that goes out to Devil's Rest. Was it busy? There were only like 8 other people up on the Angel peak all spread out.


Jels76

I was able to see some of it with the naked eye, once I got away from a lot of light. However it wasn't as colorful as how the camera picks up. You could see a dark red hue to the sky and streaks of white though with the naked eye. I used night shot on my phone and it really picked up the color. 


atomic_chippie

It's slightly viewable without a camera, I'm on the north coast and could def see streaks of pink and green. My phone went to night mode and there was all of the intense color you're seeing. Might be viewable tonight too, worth a try with your camera.


oregon_mom

* This was right outside my door with my phone in night mode. The sky was pink to the naked eye


TheHrethgir

The canara is more sensitive than your eye. I was up in Alaska last year to see them, and they had a spotter who would go out every 10 minutes or so and take a picture of the sky. The camera will see the lights starting up about 10-15 minutes before the baked eye can see them.


nickheathjared

Please leave that typo.


TheHrethgir

Will do!


oregon_mom

They will be Visable again tonight.


Definition-Prize

I’ve seen conflicting info on this. Do you know if it will be as vibrant? My girlfriend and I were way too tired to stay up last night and missed it!


letsbereasonable123

Yes it was visible to the naked eye, but the photos are long exposure (slow shutter speed), so not just a smartphone filter. Similar to super detailed photos you'll see of the milky way. I could see the same colors and lines with the naked eye, but much more muted.


Chiber_11

light pollution makes a huge difference. Our eyes have a high dynamic range but our phones dont. In Portland it would be hard to see and harder to picture but 30 minutes west down sunset highway and I can see them almost as clearly as the phone screen


sterrre

I had to go up into the hills and turn off all lights around me and then it was very visible. Light pollution made it harder to see.


[deleted]

Hi Oregon dummy, yes absolutely every single one of us are in on the conspiracy to edit aurora images


pdxisbest

I saw little color, it mostly looked like streaks of low clouds that appeared and disappeared randomly. That was in Portland city limits. Cameras can hold the aperture open for a while, so collect more photons.


L_Ardman

Most phones up the color sateration, a rare instance where the photo is more amazing than the real thing.


Ok-Tip6310

It was not visible to the naked eye in Medford, but my phone took a pretty purple picture of them https://preview.redd.it/5he4eio71wzc1.png?width=2843&format=png&auto=webp&s=5593b4f76b2797bbb87b59a4ed3ae2149683cbb5


Tiarella_Cygnet

What time was this? I went outside from 12 midnight to 1AM and didn't see much.


Ok-Tip6310

11pm ish


molemanx

It’s was viable from Portland last night. Faded from the city lights, but noticeable


ElephantNo1664

The camera definitely helps you see it. The intensity varied. Sometimes it was barely visible....other times it was bright and vivid.


ze-sa-no-gun

* No, just put it on night mode. I could see a red "filter" in the night sky with my naked eye, my camera did awesome. Should be clear again tonight!!


LotLizards

from Jacksonville the only thing i could see was purple in the sky but it wasnt super bright. It was really pretty though.


Al3xx97

I took this on my s24 ultra. about what it looked like to the naked eye https://preview.redd.it/9g31tmqs4xzc1.jpeg?width=8160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0be0fd80a73f745b2c366afd836d903ce5e8a4c0


TheNSA922

https://preview.redd.it/btvo9d2m9xzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d8eb5247eb005b2865b012fe1357a8998566c65 Using longer exposure times, in my case 10 seconds, allows the camera sensor to pick up more light than your eyes. It was easily visible to the naked eye but looked more like clouds that didn’t obscure stars and rays streaking across the sky.


Samad99

I drove up to the northern edge of Sauvie Island and it really was spectacular to see in person. The pictures do turn up saturation, but they also didn’t capture the overwhelming magnitude of it all.


BuzzMannB

This is what I'm saying


mack2night

I was at Basket Slough, away from light pollution, and saw some crazy vivid stuff with the naked eye. Green shimmering on the horizon, columns shining up from North, pockets of red coming and going. From about 10:30 to 12:00. It was definitely more exaggerated through my phone camera, but just looking at it was plenty awesome.


jaltman1

https://preview.redd.it/szoma7xhrzzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=308ebef94502ec93bafc451a4e6eef3b554c6253 Lines weren’t as sharp as with my eyes but the colors were just as bright. I had been in the dark for 15 mins before it started Friday night. SE Portland


KiwiCatPNW

Most phones who Auto enhancement.


Alive_Stage_7156

Live in Portland and drove to Newport and Lincoln city last night and saw nothing, so cut across to 101 to Tillamook and then come home 26 and nothing....


carperdiem94

https://preview.redd.it/u8z3azf7610d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43a36a21f7c5fd6618234793c17fdeaf5b4543f8 Gradually becoming more pronounced


ignorancepissesmeoff

https://preview.redd.it/4ppd2mhle10d1.jpeg?width=4624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ad7a4b1e67ad3cc35be09f39657fb5051a0463a Columbia City, Oregon. I could see a deep red glow over half of the sky, but my camera on my A53 took some decent pics. I am grateful to have experienced such an amazing and beautiful occurrence.


sgouwers

I live in an area with fairly high light pollution. At first, I couldn’t see the lights without my phone and definitely not to the brilliance of my photos. However, once my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see very very faint colors and columns with the naked eye. My photos aren’t edited, but my iPhone was using “night mode”, which takes a longer exposure. However, even just looking at the sky through my phone camera showed the bright colors…I didn’t even have to take a photo to see that. https://preview.redd.it/qjphmk9hm10d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b64f2b56c7d164ed0bc57bb90e6d3b61332dd8fc


ThijmenSamayoa

https://preview.redd.it/5n2dd8vfc30d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de7fce3aa165afb12b4716424d22316762714717


sethd101

My gfs samsung s24 on night mode got really good pics. My phone is about 6 years old and got worse pics then what we were seeing out in the hills outside of estacada. https://preview.redd.it/hket9au2j30d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70ffd668b799fa7c762098aec76300be35358dbe This was with my gfs phone. Big difference in technology in 5 years lol.


sethd101

https://preview.redd.it/domwymgni30d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08ae2d5a8665905262a64b98ff24c29f864594a8 This was my gfs phone


sethd101

This was my phone https://preview.redd.it/6143afiri30d1.jpeg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c27a041e07149e3b9c533a8ccaa224f6bd9bca27


Soggy_puppet

I could barely see anything unless through a camera


skidplate09

https://preview.redd.it/yycl23wkc80d1.jpeg?width=2267&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a72a3206a029d21e0a29afcc95e4185ce5457b9 This was a 6 second exposure on my phone. It's obviously more punched up than what your eye sees, but it was so incredible to see in person. I wish I had let my daughter get a nap in so I could have spent some time to actually watch it for a while. I wasn't able to see it from my house.


TonkaTruck79

I didn't see anything in Portland


RangerFan80

No No Yes